Germany and Russia: Old Dreams and New Realities
| Author | Hans Kohn |
| Date | 01 April 1946 |
| DOI | 10.1177/002070204600100202 |
| Published date | 01 April 1946 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
Germany
and
Russia:
Old
Dreams
and
New
Realities
Hans
Kohn
n
World War
II
as
in
World War
I,
Germany
and
Russia
confronted
each
other
in
a life-and-death
struggle
which
was
to
determine,
-for a
long
time to
come,
the
old
rivalry
between
Germans
and
Slavs for
the
control
of
central eastern
Europe.
Both
resumed
the
struggle
in
a
new
revolutionary
garb,
but
below
this
garb
the
old
aspirations
and
trends
live
on.
National
Socialist
Germany
continued,
in spite
of
all
the
bitter
scorn
which
its
spokesmen
poured
on
the
Wilhelminian
and
the
Weimar
periods
of
the
Reich,
all
the
decisive
dreams
and
errors
of
the
past,
exaggerating
them
in every instance
to
such
a
degree
that
the
quantitative
change
almost became
qualitative.
Yet from
Bismarck
to
Hitler
there
was
no
real
break,
no
new
beginning. The
forces
of
history
have shown
their
tremendous
staying
power.
Viewed
superficially,
the
case
of
Russia
has
been
different.
There
the
Revolution
seemed to
mark
a
complete
break,
a
really
new
beginning.
Yet
very
soon
men
who
knew
Russia
could
point
out
that
the
so-called
dictatorship
of
the
proletariat
was
in
many
of
its
measures
and forms
only
a
continuation,
and
an
exaggeration,
of
traits
of
Russian
life
familiar
from
pre-
Revolutionary
times.
And
as
time
went
on,
the
conscious
and
even emphasized
continuity
of
Russian historical
trends
began
to
transform
all
aspects
of
Soviet
society
and
Soviet
cultural
life,
until
at
present
the
deep-rooted
Russian
traditional
imperial
aims have
become
manifest
to
every
observer.
.The
second
world
war
entered
the
decisive
stage
with
the
tremendous
battles
on
the
eastern
front,
in which
Russia
and
Germany found themselves
at
grips after
the
fateful
June
day
in
1941
when
Hitler
decided
to
attack
the
Soviet Union.
The
conflict
came,
in
spite
of
the
fact
that
the
Kremlin
showed
itself
most
anxious
to
avoid
it,
and
had
in
every
way
tried
to
prevent
or
at least
postpone
it
by
compliance
with
the
demands
of
the
German
dictator,
for
whom
Stalin
probably
felt
more
sympathy
112
To continue reading
Request your trial